Jose Mourinho takes his team on an August trip down to the south coast to take on the Seagulls.

Predictions

Much was made of Jose Mourinho’s reaction to the lack of new faces during the transfer window before the opening day fixture against Leicester but Manchester United got the three points and enjoyed the majority of the play against Claude Puel’s men. The Red Devils go into their second match as favourites and will expect to come away with maximum points once again.

Brighton looked slow and sluggish in their season opener at Watford and were soundly beaten by a Hornets side that many had picked as relegation favourites. An injury to captain Bruno has made matters worse for the home side and Chris Hughton must decide whether to start with his new signings who were unimpressive last week.

Paul Pogba came in for some very thinly veiled criticism from his own manager before the Leicester match but was arguably the best player on the pitch, capping off his performance with the opening goal. Mourinho seemed happy with the French midfielder – who he had made captain – so he should lead the team here as well.

Question marks over the Manchester United defence seemed to have been answered somewhat with the much-maligned Luke Shaw even scoring a goal against Leicester. But United still look vulnerable at right back with Mateo Darmian given the runaround by Demarai Gray and Ben Chilwell. Brighton will hope to attack at this apparent weakness. United look too strong though, so a 1-0 win looks likely.

1×2 Predictions

Score Predictions

Over/Under

Betting Tips

Brighton didn’t score many goals last season – just 34 in 38 league games – and were unable to change that form against Watford, where they once again drew a blank. Mourinho’s tactics at United have been lambasted for not allowing his creative players to shine. This could be a low scoring affair.

Manchester United have some wonderful strikers at their disposal – Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford – who are all capable of picking up a couple of goals in most matches. But Pogba opened the scoring for the Red Devils against Leicester and could be a good shout to repeat the trick at Brighton.

Odds

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Head to Head

Brighton was unfortunate to lose to a late Lewis Dunk own goal when they travelled to Old Trafford last season. They were then knocked out of the FA Cup at the quarterfinal stage when United beat them 2-0. But it was a happier occasion for the Seagulls in their home league match as a 1-0 victory assured them of their Premier League status for another year.

Stats

Brighton scored just 34 goals in the league last year – only Huddersfield and relegated Swansea and West Brom scored fewer.

Brighton became part of only the third trio of clubs promoted to the Premier League to all escape relegation alongside Huddersfield and Newcastle last season.

Although Brighton fans will have seen last season’s survival as a success, Manchester United more than doubled their points total 81 to 40.

Manchester United holds the record for top-flight titles, recording 20 championships over the years. Brighton has never won anything higher than the third tier of English football.